The committee would show Biden can turn enthusiasm into the kind of big-dollar donations needed to float a national campaign and it would let him share the wealth with congressional candidates down the ballot – a way to stock up chits for a grueling primary.

For any other candidate, this would be a no-brainer. But Biden has to balance against two powerful Democrats — his boss, the president, and his likely rival, Hillary Clinton - in a way that doesn’t make him seem disloyal to Obama or disrespectful of Clinton.

And in a way, it’s a proxy for his larger decision — if he should decide to run regardless of what Clinton does, he has to thread the needle between the same two, and not irritate the supporters of each while still staking a claim to a chance to seek the nomination.

It’s a delicate balancing act, but his supporters say he can raise big money.

“I do expect the vice president to be active raising money for candidates in 2014 and whatever his plans may be beyond that it will be useful to the party and the candidates and potentially to him,” said Larry Rasky, a longtime Biden insider.

Several Biden insiders declined to speak publicly about the effort, since Biden hasn’t made up his mind.

Changing the perception of his fundraising ability with big donors and bundlers will take an enormous effort.

Biden has never been a big fundraiser and as a senator had no need to raise large amounts of money for races in Delaware — a small state with largely low dollar media buys.

Biden’s fundraising struggles were apparent in his 2007 bid for the Democratic nomination. In part, he was hobbled by his comments at the outset of his campaign, when he called then-rival Obama “articulate” in an interview – and then spent days apologizing. But he was also competing against top-tier fundraisers Clinton and Obama.

That year, Biden raised $11.3 million — well short of the $20 million he predicted he would need to compete in early primary states, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the last three months of his campaign the Delaware Democrat raised $3.2 million, well behind Clinton and Obama.

But several Biden allies say times have changed and that Biden has the capacity to bring in large amounts of money and headline fundraisers across the country, having used his time in office to develop a brand of his own.

“As a figure, Joe Biden has come a long way since 1987. He is now vice president of the United States. He’s traveled the country on behalf of Democrats since 2007, 2008,” Rasky said. “Since he was put on the ticket. He’s been a hugely successful surrogate for both fundraising and otherwise. So now, there’s no question about his ability, his gravitas, his strength as a politician.”

He added: “And he knows all of the major fundraisers in the party extremely well and he’s well-liked, if not beloved by many of them. So he’s in a totally different place than he’s ever been as a force within the party.”

Biden’s already gotten in the action in 2013, headlining a fundraiser for vulnerable Democratic incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (La.) in late January. He also helped campaign and headlined a fundraiser inside the Beltway for Rep. Ed Markey’s Massachusetts Senate campaign.

Still, among major donors in New York and along the East Coast, Biden isn’t someone who is factoring into the equation in a meaningful way.

Many Obama bundlers who won’t defend the president publicly feel as if he let them down, or have felt slighted by a White House that has had little patience for donor maintenance. And the longtime Hillary Clinton donor network, whether they would express it publicly or not, feels quietly vindicated by the troubles Obama has faced in office - and sees 2016 as a chance to get it right, by electing the former first lady.

“No one is talking about Biden,” said one source involved in Democratic fundraising, who added that it would be very difficult for the vice president to make any moves that get ahead of Obama this early in the second term.

That’s left Biden with few options in terms of getting early support, or even getting auditions with people.

One New York-area mega-bundler, who asked not to be identified, said there has been no peep of Biden forming any kind of PAC ordoing outreach with donors. Instead, the bundler said, there is a vague sense that Biden could maintain donor contacts through the Democratic National Committee, as he fundraises for the party’s official apparatus.

Unlike Clinton, Biden’s fortunes rise and fall not just on the choices of the former Secretary of State - who, by all accounts, he genuinely respects and admires - but on Obama. Clinton, by virtue of having left the administration, has distance and her own political identity. But if Obama fails, or if the economy falters again, Biden will be indelibly linked to it.

Then there’s the matter of developing roots in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire. That was never his strong suit in his past two presidential campaigns, although it is conceivable he could position himself to inherit whatever Clinton establishes if she chooses not to run.

“Most of the leadership of the Biden ‘87-‘88 campaign in New Hampshire moved to Bill Clinton in 1991,” said Terry Shumaker, a New Hampshire Democrat who was co-chair of Bill Clinton’s ‘92 campaign and who will support Hillary Clinton if she runs “And perhaps Vice President Biden might be able to have that work in reverse.”

There are also natural Democratic constituencies who have a strong affinity for Biden already, fundraising bases where he would perform well - unions, especially the teachers’ union, and gay donors feel loyalty to him, several strategists noted.

Gay donors, in particular, credit Biden with forcing Obama’s hand on support for same-sex marriage during his re-election effort.

There are some parallels to another open-seat election involving a vice president interested in the main job. Gore was the most recent example for Democrats - and he had a PAC while serving as the vice president, his “Leadership ‘98” apparatus.

Still, Gore was able to basically clear the field, something that Biden has little chance of doing. And Gore was actively building up political infrastructure, another thing that Biden is not doing. Biden does have some well-placed allies in Democratic politics, but without knowing what Clinton will do, his road forward is difficult.

Impressions are mixed as to whether he will run regardless of Clinton declaring another campaign - some who’ve spoken with him believe he won’t run, others say he believes he can.

“He definitely is keeping all options open,” said one Biden ally. “He’s run twice, had an amazing four or five years now. He’s going to sit down with his family and at the appropriate time make a decision.”

What may ultimately compel him is preserving the future options for his children - most notably his son Beau, the Delaware Attorney General, who could, much as Bill Clinton did with Mario Cuomo’s son, be rewarded with a position in a Hillary Clinton Cabinet.